Jean-Luc Godard's 3D 'Goodbye To Language' Named Best Of 2014 By National Society Of Film Critics

As awards season kicks into high gear, the National Society of Film Critics -- known for its highbrow, artsy-leaning choices -- chose the 3D art film "Goodbye to Language" (with Heloise Godet and Kamel Abdelli) for best film of 2014.

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard ("Breathless," "Weekend"), the 84-year-old filmmaking legend who achieved fame in the 1960s French New Wave, "Goodbye to Language" is about a couple having an affair who try to figure out life while meditating on philosophy, politics and life in the digital age -- all the while looking to their dog for clues. The film also won a joint jury prize at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

In a positive review, Indiewire called it "baffling," while the New York Times film critic A.O. Scott wrote -- also in a positive review -- "There is also the suggestion of a plot, or rather a gesture in the direction of a weave of narratives involving political intrigue and adultery and touching on some of the filmmaker’s recurrent preoccupations."

Founded in 1966, the National Society of Film Critics is made up of the leading film critics in the United States, including critics from the Village Voice, the Boston Herald, the Wall Street Journal, the Nation and the New Yorker, as well as prominent online sites. Its members are elected.

The National Society of Film Critics' most recent best picture awards went to the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" in 2013, Michael Haneke's “Amour” in 2012, Lars von Trier's “Melancholia” in 2011, David Fincher's "The Social Network" in 2010, and the 2009 animated Israeli film "Waltz With Bashir" directed by Ari Folman.